Zutara Change Day
by Lauren The Panhead
Summary: He visits the one place where he feels closest to his mother, only to find the place in ruins. The last time he was there, Ursa was by his side. Not anymore. Things have changed. Rated K PLUS! Not sure why the plus... but whatever. Review! Happy day 2!


Zutara Week 2010

Day 2- Change

Disclaimer: I wish I owned ATLA. If I did, I would be satisfied with the Zutarian ending it would have. *Sigh…* Every time I see a Kataang moment, I want to stab my TV (Or netbook) with a spork. Does anyone else ever feel that way? I just don't know…

BEFORE WE BEGINNNNN… (I used my big voice for that) This has no relation to yesterday's fic. It's a new (ZUTARIAN!) day, and this is a new (ZUTARIAN!) fic. Still… You should read day one's entry first. (I think!)

SCOOP BOOP SKIDDLY DOOP! ('Here goes it!' in Laurenese!)

He sat with the back of his regal Fire Lord robes against an old tree. He watched the empty pond with empty eyes. Memories of this place- years ago- flooded his mind. He let them. He never thought of this place… It was too painful. Now he was sitting in the same spot he occupied years ago. It wasn't the same. It could never be the same.

The water in the pond was now greenish-gray. He remembered it as a deep blue. He turned to his left and saw an empty section of cracked dirt. He remembered that spot when it was grassy and soft to the touch. He remembered his mother sitting there with him. Thinking of her eventually led to memories of the turlteducks. He remembered the protective mother that bit him when he was a child. He remembered how protective his mother was towards him. Somehow he just knew that she wouldn't do those things for Azula. She killed Fire Lord Azulon for him. She knew she would be banished for it, but she knew that her son's life depended entirely on Azulon's own life. He turned put his back against the dry dirt.

Ursa was long gone, and so was this place. The turtleducks were nowhere to be seen and all the life had been drained out of this place… Except her tree. Ursa's favorite tree, an apple tree, still sat behind him. Her branches leaned over him, as if to protect him from any harm. He knew she always would. He turned to the old, broken, crumbling structure that used to be the most beautiful fountain in the world to him. A single drop of water sat at the very bottom. He stood and sighed. As he looked down to the tiny droplet, he willed something good to come from these memories. He willed her to come back. He imagined her soft voice whispering to him as she hugged him affectionately. A tear descended from his good eye. It flew downwards to join the small droplet. These memories brought nothing but pain. Again he willed something good to come from them.

The scarred man was startled by a yank on his wrist. He turned quickly to see a little girl, no taller than three feet, standing there with him, holding his hand. He smiled into the girl's aqua blue eyes and scooped her up into his arms. She giggled as her black braids swirled about her. Her smile lacked two front teeth, but still radiated an extreme amount of joy. The Fire Lord set the girl down and squeezed on one of her tiny hands. She squeezed back, and ran off at the sound of a familiar voice. The woman stood, laughing into a hand at the sight of the excited little girl running as fast as she could. Once the girl was in the woman's arms, she looked up to him. Her deep blue eyes were filled with curiosity and concern. He smiled weakly and nodded enough for her to see. She nodded gently back to him.

He slowly trudged past his memories to her. Her blue dress fluttered gracefully across the beat-down concrete path as she took a few steps toward him. The closer he came to her, the happier his smile grew. Hers matched perfectly, just like they always did. A light tug on his robes called his attention. He saw the little girl with the braids pulling at the bulky red outfit. She had her face twisted in thought. "Can we go now, daddy? This place is sad." He looked to the woman. She smiled comfortingly to him. He sighed softly in return. "Sure." The girl beamed and shot off in a random direction. "It's changed so much." He looked around at the gray scenery. She nodded. "So have you." Her voice was hardly a whisper. He moved forward. The Waterbender wrapped him in her protective, loving arms… Just like she always would.

Author's Notes… Yay!

AWWWWW!

I love this!

Do youuuu? (I read this out loud in a fun voice)

I won't know until you review!

If you don't review, I will have to assume that you hated it and wanted to wad it up and throw it at my face.

Please review so I don't have to assume that!

If you review, I'll give you a puppy!

If you're reading this, the last one was obviously a lie.

Either that, ooooooor you hate puppies!

Just review! Don't be a puppy hater!

Reviews make me wanna write, write, WRITE!

AH! Okay, never mind… That was a little scary.


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